Who Can Initiate a Proceeding for the Allocation of Parental Responsibilities?

 Posted on October 31, 2019 in Child Custody

If you are considering divorce in DuPage County and have minor children from your marriage, or if you are a family caregiver to minor children, we know that you likely have questions about child custody. The child custody process, now known as the allocation of parental responsibilities under the Illinois Marriage and Dissolution of Marriage Act (IMDMA), can be extremely complicated. We routinely assist parents in the DuPage County Muslim community who have concerns or inquiries about how courts make child custody decisions when courts allocate parental responsibilities, and how the proceedings even begin.

While a divorce can be an event that initiates a proceeding for the allocation of parental responsibilities (meaning that the court will need to allocate parental responsibilities, including significant decision-making responsibilities and parenting time based on what is in the best interests of the child), there are other ways in which this process can get initiated. The dedicated DuPage County child custody lawyers at our firm want to provide you with more information.

How Courts Begin the Process of Allocating Parental Responsibilities

Many people assume that child custody proceedings, or the process in which the court allocates parental responsibilities, can only be initiated in a divorce case. While divorce is one of the ways to get this process started, the IMDMA also provides for numerous others. The following are situations and parties that can initiate the process:

• One of the parents files a petition for legal separation
• One of the parents files a petition for the dissolution of marriage
• One of the parents files a petition for declaration of invalidity of marriage (annulment)
• One of the parents, outside a divorce context, files a petition for the allocation of parental responsibilities in the county where the child currently lives
• A person other than a parent files a petition for the allocation of parental responsibilities in the county where the child currently lives but only if the child is not currently in the physical custody of one of the parents
• Step-parent files a petition for the allocation of parental responsibilities only if all of the following are true: parent with majority parenting time is deceased or disabled; step-parent had been providing for the child’s care prior to filing the petition, child wants to live with the step-parent, and it is alleged to be in the child’s best interest to live with the step-parent
• Grandparent files a petition for the allocation of parental responsibilities when one of the parents is deceased and only if one of the following is true: surviving parent has been absent from the house for one month or more without known whereabouts, surviving parent is in state or federal custody, or surviving parent received supervision or was convicted of a specific crime

Contact a County Child Custody Lawyer in DuPage County

Legal matters involving child custody or the allocation of parental responsibilities can be particularly complicated. It is always important to have an experienced DuPage County child custody attorney on your side as you go through the process in which parental responsibilities are allocated. The attorneys at Farooqi & Husain Law Office have been assisting members of the Muslim community in DuPage County for years, and we are here to speak with you about your case. Contact Farooqi & Husain Law Office online or call our office at 630-909-9114.

Source:

http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs4.asp?DocName=075000050HPt%2E+VI&ActID=2086&ChapterID=59&SeqStart=8350000&SeqEnd=10200000